2007 » 

Missed connections

Published: 11/10/2007 - Filed under: Ask Alex » Ask Alex » 2007 »

• Print
• Send

Dear Alex,

Last April my wife and I flew first class on QF93 from Melbourne to Los Angeles. On arrival we were to connect on to American Airlines to San Juan (where we were going to join a cruise) via Dallas.

We had allowed two and a half hours to make the transfer through Los Angeles’ T4. But when our Qantas flight berthed in T4 we were delayed, as first class passengers received no disembarkation priority.

Unfortunately, Qantas flight QF107 from Sydney, bound for New York, had just arrived before us. It was an hour late, so there were over 700 passengers awaiting immigration clearance.

With only four immigration officers on duty there was a very long queue. And QF107 passengers, because their flight was delayed and departure was imminent, were taken to the head of the queue.

After queuing for an hour we had actually gone backwards in line. After a wait of 90 minutes I alerted American ground staff to our predicament but was politely told to wait and “don’t be concerned as we have plenty of connections to San Juan”.

In the end it took us two hours to be processed, only to be told that we had missed the luggage check-in deadline by five minutes. Even worse was the news that there were no further connections that day to San Juan, so we would have to stay overnight in Los Angeles at our own expense.

I queried whether it should be an American cost as we had checked into the American flights at Melbourne and held boarding passes. I thought this was one of the good things about the Oneworld alliance [both Qantas and American are Oneworld members].

In the end, we flew to San Juan the following day and made our cruise-line connection in time – but not without cost and worries on our part.

Who is responsible when something like this happens? Should the accommodation be at my cost or does American have a responsibility?

Peter Simpson, Melbourne, Australia

Alex replies: After what I imagine was fine Qantas first class service on this 14-hour transpacific flight you really came down to earth with a bump. It’s a sad fact of modern air travel that the airlines may deliver outstanding service aloft, but they can’t extend similar service to the ground.

A few airlines (Lufthansa at Frankfurt and Air France at Paris CDG are prime examples) have managed to expedite departure formalities for their first class passengers but none, to the best of my knowledge, offer anything similar to
arriving passengers.

US immigration is outside the control of any airline. But as a first class passenger I would have thought American staff would have been more knowledgeable about connections and taken heed of your plight.

Increased US checks spell longer times to clear formalities. Yet there’s no consistency. Some travellers can clear the checks normally while others end up
waiting for hours.

In theory the connecting time of two and a half hours should be sufficient (otherwise the airline computer systems wouldn’t have allowed you to make the original booking and to through-check from Melbourne), but in practice it may not be.

The British national press reported last summer that arriving passengers were spending as long as three and a half hours in the Los Angeles immigration hall. Much depends on the number of arriving flights and from where they originate (because US immigration checks may be stricter on flights from some countries than they are
for passengers from others).

Missing a connection at Los Angeles to, say, Las Vegas wouldn’t be a problem as there are lots of options. But the same scenario doesn’t apply to San Juan because the Caribbean is remote from
the West Coast.

I asked American to comment on your experiences and it said: “While we believe the scheduled connecting times between our partners are sufficient for a relatively routine operation, unfortunately we cannot always anticipate the operational and airport challenges that may arise.

“As immigration and customs is managed independently we are extremely limited in our ability to influence the process. While our personnel can request exceptions be made for connecting customers unfortunately these requests are not
always approved.

“Additionally, all our customers are required to claim their baggage prior to transiting US customs. They must then recheck their baggage at the transfer desk regardless of whether they are holding onward boarding passes.

“Regardless of the circumstances that impacted their journey, we expect our personnel to adopt a personable and sympathetic approach towards our customers. On this occasion it is clear that the service Mr and Mrs Simpson received did not live up to our standards.

“Although we do not generally reimburse consequential expenses incurred in this type of delay, we will be contacting Mr and Mrs Simpson directly to offer a tangible gesture of regret for the below-standard level of service they received. We have shared internally the lessons learnt from this experience so that we can continue to improve our customer service.”

Readers planning a US international-to-domestic transfer should bear the Simpsons’ experiences in mind. Adding an overnight stop will cost more and add time but it will provide peace of mind.

Bookmark with:

COMMENTS » 

AFrequentTraveller - 03/12/2007 22:27

I would like to mention that I have had a few experiences like this myself, that the incoming flight has been delayed, add to this the congestion at the immigration control and the "bird" was gone. However, as I have been flying with Scandinavian Airlines, United and Star Alliance, this has never been an issue. Rebooking of course is flawless, but I have also been offered overnight stay and vouchers for meals at no personal expense. This, even when travelling in economy!

I'd say I find the comment on the immigration services being beyond their control a bit of a funny argument. After all, most airlines are flexible (at least SAS and Star Alliance does) in case of weather situations. I am quite confident most of us do not have much influence there either...

I fly Scandinavian, and I know they won't let me down.

Having said this, this security "circus" in the US really is a pain. I wonder when they are going to wake up and realize their harbours is wide open.

JamesGarrod - 22/04/2008 10:20

I would like to advise your readership of my company Personal Porter. We provide a global door-to-door luggage delivery service.

This allows our customers to enjoy their journey travelling with hand luggage only, whilst we lok after the safe and reliable delivery of thier luggage to thier home or hotel wherever in the world that may be.

Visit www.personalporter.com.au for more information.

ADD A COMMENT »